Actual costs are said to be 10 times higher than what DuPont is offering

According to this report, some Park City and Heber, Utah property owners have rejected the Imprelis class settlement offer because they are finding out that the actual costs are 10 times more than what Dupont is offering. This is not surprising to those of us who've done research into what it will really take to re-establish our properties.

In this case, the lawncare company Greenleaf Enterprises has filed on their behalf because they knew the offers were inadequate. What a commendable LCO!

And, from the Digital Journal, another golf course opts out of the class settlement due to "paltry settlement offers":Imprelis Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Indiana Country Club, Alleging That Imprelis Use Seriously Damaged the Club’s Landscape and Profits
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1227211#ixzz2TYqpzJ2l

We've heard that there is low probability of physical human damage caused by Imprelis, besides stress and it's subsequent ramifications which is certainly plenty to deal with itself. Here's a link to a report on herbicide/pesticide exposure increasing risk of Parkinsons. No one, to my knowledge, has suggested Imprelis increases that kind of risk. I just find it interesting that studies continue to surface many years after certain products were used in the past. Do longterm effects take longterm studies and who gets studied (how many generations)?

"According to data published in the journal Neurology, exposure to weed killer, solvents and pesticides increases people’s risk for Parkinson’s disease by 33 to 80 percent, Medical Daily reported.
Researchers collected data from 104 studies from around the world to analyze how pesticides, insecticides, weed killers, and many other agricultural chemicals influenced an individual’s risk for Parkinson’s disease."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/0...#ixzz2UcALpADF

In the coming weeks I hope to have the time to post some photos of some of the tree removal work I've been seeing in my neighborhood. There are some neighbors that agreed to DuPont's offer and relinguished certain rights and there are others who have rejected it.

What I'm witnessing are some trees only being cut off close to the ground and then stump grinding, then they cover it over with some soil and some grass seed, then replant next to it. Of course, if the Imprelis is still in the roots that are left in the ground, how much and when will the decay process help release Imprelis back into the soil next to the new tree (we're told we can't use any mulch from Imprelis affected grass or plants)? Others that were dug up were only partially removed (roots still seen extending from the holes). Already seeing some of the new trees turning yellow after just a few weeks. Those are on a downward slope from an Imprelis yard.

Page 11-12:
8. Any Settlement Class Member may opt out of the Settlement by following the “Exclusion” procedure set forth in the Long Form Notice and the Settlement Agreement. All Settlement Class Members who do not opt out in accordance with the terms set forth in the Settlement Notice and the Settlement Agreement will be bound by all determinations and judgments in the Action. Any Class Member who wishes to opt out of the Class must do so in writing by mailing a request for exclusion to the Claims Administrator. Any such request must be postmarked no later than the Opt-Out Deadline, June 28, 2013. The request to opt out must be signed by the Class Member seeking to opt out and must set out the Class Member’s first and last names (or company name), valid mailing address and functioning telephone number. Any Class Member who opts out may rescind or revoke such decision by submitting a written revocation to the Claims Administrator, provided such revocation is postmarked by the Opt-Out Deadline. No later than ten days after the Opt-Out Deadline, the Claims Administrator shall file with the Court the names of all Opt-Outs who have submitted a timely request to opt out of the Class;

Most people reading this forum have probably already opted-out if they were going to unless they're a new reader, but this is important information and I'm still hearing there are people just discovering what this is all about and what may have happened to their trees. A rep for an LCO told me they are still receiving new inquiries this year who did not know why their trees looked like they did and did not know that a property near theirs had Imprelis used on it 2 years ago by a different LCO.

Some trees are not fully being removed, some stumps left, some dug up partially

I'm seeing some "replacement" taking place in certain places around nearby neighborhoods. These particular ones are from an association that accepted the initial settlement and agreed to relinquish certain rights. I took a few photos from the public sidewalk. One thing in common among the new plantings is there's little to no diversity in types of trees, but all I see are the same type evergreen being planted. I realize quantity orders get more discounts but, not sure if they had a choice since the common grounds are managed by a board? Some of the trees they just cut off close to the ground then later came back to grind the stump (not full removal). Of course, the landscape appearance changed since they couldn't plant in that same spot. Other trees were only partially removed from the ground (some of the root system was left in the ground) and the hole that was dug was shallow. Then the new trees were planted next to where the damaged roots are from the old tree. I saw roots in the edges of the holes extended into the surrounded ground. Is this typical for those who accepted DuPont's resolution offer or are other LCOs trying to do more removal so that they can actually replant in the same spot of what they removed? DuPont rep told me in 2011 that I would just have to replant next to where the old ones were, but not in the same spot because of the roots. Of course, I told her that was unacceptable, especially since I hoped to one day have my privacy hedge back. I never heard from her again.

I'm noticing certain of the new trees losing their dark green color. It reminds me of what we witnessed in 2011, although maybe there are other planting factors causing the yellowing. I observed the yellowing ones on down slopes from Imprelis yards and next to where the damaged ones were removed (some roots left in soil from the removed tree).

The white pine photo is one that was not rated to be removed if you can believe it. Does anyone really think a maintenance program can recreate the beautiful pine it used to be?

Photo 1: this tree was not fully removed, later they just grinded the stump, threw some soil over it and threw some grass seed on it.

I feel sorry for those who are having continued problems. We have our check in hand from Dupont after 2 rejections. We got paid for over 30 replacement trees and care on another 25. We also were paid for the removal costs. So we're happy and will start replacing 15 of those soon. The rest we are doing our own fertilizing and pruning. It's really amazing how these trees really want to come back. I see new growth all over the place on trees that were severely damaged and on the replacement schedule. After pruning off the dead, they look pretty good and we're going to wait to see how they progress. We put all these in ourselves, so we kinda feel they are our children, and we want to give them every opportunity to repsong and grow. Now I know they may never have that perfect shape any longer. But they will have distinctive character, and in a mass planting, they won't really be noticealbe.

The black hills spruce have buds all over and really coming back. The White spruce are much slower are really droopy and they may not do well. The red pine are shooting new buds in amongst the ones that have died and thickened. The white pine have new buds, but I think they are still distorted.

A lot of work pruning and fertilizing (10-20 foot trees), but I'm real happy we are doing it and giving them a chance to recover. Also happy after a year of headaches with Dupont settlement.

Unfortunately, some neighbors in my town weren't home when the LCO replanted trees recently.

Observations:
1. I witnessed no full removal of the damaged trees and roots. Holes were shallow.
2. To somehow rectify this the LCO mostly tried to replant next to the partially dug up ones.
3. This created an "off" look and diminished the original landscape design. Some properties that used to have evenly spaced trees across the rear of their property now have more trees located on one side than the other. Nothing is evenly spaced like before and neighbors are upset. They used to have an evenly spaced row of different types of trees (evergreen, deciduous, evergreen, deciduous...), but now have all the same type of trees which aren't evenly spaced.
4. Same type of tree replaced many different kind (neighbors conclude the LCO got a deal when they bought all the same kind). Some suspect some $$$$ has been pocketed.
5. Some of the replacement trees appear to be conservation grade (park grade) trees instead of Grade A tree. I see trees with thinner sides and the planters actually turned it with the bad side facing the homeowner.
6. Holes dug for new plants were shallow according to what I saw and what was reported.
7. Metal cages around root ball were not cut or even partially removed near the top. They just took them from the truck and laid them in the hole.

Neighbors who aren't happy have some consolation which they mentioned to me, "oh well, they're guaranteed so I guess we might be able to get them to replace them if they die before the limited warranty expires".

I hope others who don't have full choices of who removes and replaces your tree will have better results than this and what type of tree you want to use to replace what was originally there.

When I have work done, I will make sure I'm there to supervise it and I will be picking the trees and making sure they plant them correctly. Unfortunately, that will mean I have to take more time off from work for this project that should have never occurred in the first place. I want full control over the removal also. I realize condo owners have it tough because it's up to the association to make sure things are done right. What I saw though wasn't just condo areas, but also single family homes (just happened to be the same LCO). I'm so glad I did not allow them on my property to do any of that work, but instead opted out. But, that's just my personal feeling for my property.

Here are a couple more new photos I had taken:
Photo 1: Here's the 'new' growth I see this year. Just more of the same: twisted ends, crusty-like growth and of course the dreaded terminal tumors.

Photo 2: This used to be one of the many beautiful Thuja Occidentalis I had. Now it, like so many on my property, are just Trees of Death. We look at this everyday. We've seen no improvement on our property. It has now been over two years since Imprelis was used on my neighbor's property which migrated downhill into mine.

I may not be posted much more in the future months. I wish you all the best and hope somehow, if it's possible, we all get our landscape back to how it should be as if this terrible man-made event had not happened.

Here's one more photo. I'm glad I had some photos of my landscaping the way it used to be before Imprelis was used on my neighbor's property in 2011. Here is one example of a closeup of one of the arborvitae. 'Arborvitae' means 'Tree of Life' in Latin. Now, what I have can be known literally in Latin as 'Arbormortis', or 'Tree of Death'.

We are in the process of getting estimates to dig up and remove damaged trees. (We want at least an estimate before we accept any agreement from DuPont.) I called Davey Tree first, simply because they have a good reputation, and I know they have their own nursery. Also, DuPont is using some Davey Tree arborists to do some evaluating for them. I called TWICE, left my name and number, discussed what I wanted with the receptionist both times, and they never returned my call. Finally gave up, went back to DuPont's list of "approved" companies to replace trees. After being told several times how busy tree companies are right now, I finally got an arborist to come out to give the estimate. We went around the yard with him, and I was surprised at several things (he knew we planned to self pay rather than wait another year for a check to come.)

1. He didn't seem concerned about the distorted branch patterns stemming out from the 2 still living Norways. There has been no growth on top for 3 years now--said we could just 'train' a new leader. He didn't recommend replacement necessarily--but would if we want.

2.) if we did decide to replace, he was very clear about the fact that the only "spruce" tree they are recommending now is a Serbian Spruce. They also aren't recommending any type of fir tree, mostly due to a fungus spruce get that needs about 3 sprays per year to avoid. Spruces evidently don't like the really hot summers here in Ohio. Serbians tend to be narrow and not as safe in the wind, which has been our experience.

3. They quoted the regular removal process--cut to the ground, then come back and mulch the stump. They "hadn't heard" anything about not mulching tree tissue and where to dispose of it.

4. The only way we can see a tree first, is to find one at a nursery, then have them pick it up when they are ready to plant.

I had thought that companies on the DuPont list had been instructed on how to dig out and replace "properly." We don't have much choice as to where to put the replacements--very little room to move.